Exchange and SharePoint Services
Two core components that are present in both SBS 2003 Standard Edition and SBS 2003 Premium Edition are Exchange 2003 and SharePoint Services. The version of Exchange 2003 included with SBS 2003 is essentially identical to the standalone product. The only difference is that Exchange in SBS 2003 is limited to 75 users and the management of the product is made simpler by the addition of SBS wizards, which can simultaneously add users to Windows as well as set up mailboxes in Exchange 2003. Likewise, the version of SharePoint Services included with SBS 2003 is essentially the same as the service that ships with Windows Server 2003. SharePoint Services lets you easily create Web-based share points. These share points can be thought of as the next generation of a Windows file system share: End users can set up share points to share documents with other users. However, their Web integration also extends the file-sharing capability. For example, with SharePoint Services share points, you can manage who checks in and checks out a document, review document usage, and run Web applications. SBS 2003's built-in Help Desk function is an example of how you can use SharePoint Services for more sophisticated Web-based collaborative applications. Although all client systems can use SharePoint Services shares, to make the most of SharePoint Services, the client systems must be using Microsoft Office 2003, which includes built-in options for using SharePoint Services share points. Figure 5 shows the interface for using SharePoint Services to set up a collaborative share point.
Licensing
The licensing cost for SBS 2003 Standard Edition is $599, and the licensing cost for SBS 2003 Premium Edition is $1499. The base licensing for SBS 2003 includes all the server components, and no additional licensing costs are required for the server. In addition, SBS 2003 ships with five CALs—if you plan to attach more than five clients, you must purchase additional CALs. You can attach up to 75 clients to SBS 2003. If you need to attach more than 75 client systems, you must upgrade to the standalone versions of the server components. Fortunately, Microsoft provides an upgrade path for those businesses that outgrow SBS 2003. However, upgrading to the standalone editions of all the products contained in SBS 2003 is a costly and involved move. At the time of this writing, Microsoft hasn't established final costs, but the company did say that the cost to upgrade SBS 2003 to the standalone servers will essentially be the cost of the new server licenses minus the cost of the SBS 2003 license.
Meeting the Needs of Today's Small Business
SBS 2003 makes the process of setting up the most commonly required Windows business components such as AD and Exchange easier than ever before. Even so, Microsoft has built this latest version to be installed and maintained by a consultant, VAR, or VAP. A reasonable degree of technical networking expertise is required. After the system is configured, a local business manager can perform most of the common maintenance tasks. Likewise, SharePoint Services makes the task of setting shares easy and user-friendly.
For businesses that are close to the 75-user limit or have more than 75 users, the complications of upgrading SBS 2003 to the full version of the constituent standalone products make it a poor choice. For business with fewer than 75 users and with some room to grow, Microsoft's aggressive licensing makes SBS 2003 a compelling solution.
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